Students call for action at presidential forum

Student leaders at the University of Hawaii-Manoa are mobilizing for action on Tuesday, May 6 to confront Lt. General Francis Wiercinski, one of two final candidates for the university presidency.

In an email titled “Call to Action: Demilitarize Our Education,” students were asked to meet at 4:45 p.m. Tusday outside the UH-Manoa Architecture building, where Wiercinski is scheduled to have a public meeting with the UH community.

Wiercinski has spent his entire career in the U.S. military, and student organizers say they plan to ask planning to ask pointed questions about the conflicts between his background and UH as a Hawaiian place of learning.

University regents have scheduled the public forum wtih Wiercinski at 5-6:30pm in the Architecture Auditorium. The other candidate for the job is acting president David Lassner .

Iraqi forces battling to wrest the city of Tikrit from ISIS are now in control of all government buildings in the southeastern part of the city, Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said Tuesday on Iraqiya TV.

A Saudi-led coalition continued airstrikes against Shiite Houthi rebels, who have captured key parts of Yemen and ousted that country's President, and who could spread Iran's influence in the region. FULL STORY